Persuasive Essay On Social Security

In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Old-Age Survivor and Disability Insurance into law so that there was a safety net for those who had grown old and retired from work. Due to the Old-Age Survivor and Disability Insurance name being quite extensive, it was later abbreviated as the OASDI and is also more commonly known in America as the Social Security program. Unfortunately, several people in the workforce, along with those not involved in the workforce yet, are not fully aware of the current OASDI crisis. Furthermore, Social Security's performance is based on current workers paying into the program and is turned into a trust fund that pays monthly benefits to retirees and their families. However, there are more people in the older generations

One solution that I believe can be beneficial is instead of the working people paying for other people’s Social Security, they pay into their own. Therefore, a certain chunk of their paycheck will then be inputted into their personal fund. Social Security’s income mainly comes from payroll tax contributions by 86%, alongside interest on trust fund assets by 10%, and income taxes on Social Security benefits by 3%. Changes to the tax rate wouldn’t change benefits and could close the entire solvency gap by a gradual increase for employees and employers. Also, it would lower the poverty rate amongst the elderly who benefit from Social Security by about fifteen percent. By following this suggestion, this assures that everyone will be accounted for when their time to retire and receive their Social Security arrives. Another way to draw Social Security is if you are a surviving spouse, divorced spouse, child of a deceased worker, unmarried child, disabled, or a dependent parent may be eligible for monthly benefits from the worker’s earnings. As of 2021, eighty-five cents of every Social Security tax dollar went into a monthly trust fund to retirees or survivors of the deceased, along with fifteen cents going into the trust fund to pay people with disabilities and their

However, some officials believe that it is not a crucial problem to fix at this moment, but sometime in the future. In addition, when the time gets closer, Congress’ options are to increase taxes, decrease benefits, or maybe a little bit of both. In 2021, a person who is turning sixty-five and earns about $55,500 from their career, would be estimated to receive an annual benefit estimated to $21,200. Adding on to that, “If Congress were to fix the funding issue, a 65-year-old retiring in 2035 with the same career earnings would receive about $24,650 (in 2021 dollars). If Congress didn’t fix the funding issue and the trust funds ran dry, they would receive just $19,220 (in 2021 dollars).” (Forbes.com). I believe that there are other ways to fix the Social Security issue without forcing elderly to work even longer than they need to just to keep food on the table and a roof over their head. Just a few months ago, I saw a man with very gray hair and a bad knee get out of a USPS truck to drop off a package on my porch. Seeing this with my own eyes broke my heart. A man who most likely dreamed of retiring young is now either working two jobs or had to return back to work so that he wouldn’t be drowning in debt. The whole idea of that is just sickening and when it all comes down to it, I wouldn’t want my family or myself having that future. If this destructive path continues, it is estimated that we will run out of funds around